ON OUR MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN

DOING THINGS RIGHT

A New York Times headline titled "Laura Bush Visits Afghanistan" made me do a double-take this Sunday morning.  First, here's what the story is all about:

"KABUL (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Laura Bush appealed to the international community on Sunday not to abandon Afghanistan in the face of resurgent Taliban violence.

Rocked by daily battles with Taliban rebels that have killed some 12,000 people in two years, Kabul is to ask international donors in Paris this week to fund a $50-billion five-year development plan it hopes will undercut the insurgency.

Mrs Bush said a major thrust of her unannounced visit to Afghanistan was to shore up the international commitment as Afghan, U.S. and NATO forces struggle to contain Taliban guerrilla attacks and suicide bombs..."

"The U.S. military alone spends some $100 million a day fighting the Taliban, but daily spending on aid by all donors amounts to only $7 million, aid experts say.

The Taliban, backed by al Qaeda, have vowed to step up suicide bombings this year in an effort to wear down Western public support for keeping international forces in Afghanistan."

The double-take was due to two questions that came to mind:

1.  What was Laura Bush doing in Afghanistan right now? 

I mean it's not like former First lady Hillary Clinton visiting Bosnia a dozen years ago.  This is a place where First Ladies could actually come under some serious sniper fire.

2.  Why isn't Afghanistan getting similar focus by the President right now?  I mean, this is where 9/11 really got started, and the guys who were a part of it, are re-establishing themselves all over again.

Instead, we're hoping that a "soft-touch" international fund-raising effort for Afghanistan lead by our brave First Lady might actually do the trick. 

Well, Laura Bush gets a whole lot of credit in my book for making the effort, but President Bush loses a bit for not doing his fair share.

Comments

[Alex Tolley]

"Why isn't Afghanistan getting similar focus by the President right now? I mean, this is where 9/11 really got started, and the guys who were a part of it, are re-establishing themselves all over again."

Good Question. Answer: No Oil?

I recall the retiring British military commander saying that Afghanistan is unwinnable. So again it looks like "this time it is different" is wrong and the current campaign will join the ranks of those historical failed ones. So yet again the lessons of history are ignored, change is effected by the military who are unsuited to do much more than defeat standing armies. The military cannot even keep the roads safe for aid workers as the country reverts back to banditry run by warlords.

Maybe if we had concentrated on Afghanistan from the start and put the $bn's wasted on the Iraq war into rebuilding the country, maybe we could have made progress.

The most cost effective approach now may be to offer those people who want to leave, refugee status, and help them relocate elsewhere and let those staying on find their own resolution.